The joys of night tennis

For most of the British public, tennis is the Wimbledon Championships and all its traditions.

I've seen the future and it's day-glo

Here in Madrid I have been to see a new take on the sport which could not be further removed from that strawberries-and-cream caricature.

This was 'night tennis', an innovation which I rather liked.

Tennis was spiking up its hair, grabbing a disco stick, and trying something a little different, in a university hall a short drive outside the city.

The court was in darkness, with the only light coming from the UV on the lines, net, ball, rackets, and a strip on the clothing. All of this had an electronic soundtrack.

And then, when the tennis was over, they rolled away the net, and the court became a dance-floor with Groove Armada, a house music band, playing a DJ set. I can't remember seeing a strawberry all evening.

I had never seen anything like it, with the ball a UV blur against the darkness, and tennis being played in such a setting.

The event was organised as part of the season-closing Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid, with the sponsors wanting to show to the Spanish youth that tennis is an energetic and dynamic sport.

Madrid is a city which likes to stay out late, and they warmed to the idea of 'night tennis', which went on past four in the morning. This was a good place to try out the concept.

One member of Groove Armada, a keen tennis fan, was so intrigued by the concept of night tennis that he arrived early to try it out for himself.

There were two nights of 'night tennis', with some of the tennis professionals coming down to watch, but the matches (which were played over a small number of points rather than traditional sets) were contested by players from the university.

For the first evening, Darren Emerson, formerly of the band 'Underworld', provided the DJ set.

On both nights, there was a fashion show between the matches, with all the clothes covered in UV.

It will be interesting to see whether Maria Sharapova and the rest of the pros could be persuaded to try out 'night tennis' in an exhibition.

I understand that there is a possibility of 'night tennis' being staged during next year's Miami tournament, in late March and early April.

The tournament always coincides with a music conference for the world's leading performers and promoters so finding a DJ will not cause a problem.

And a similar 'night tennis' event just before next summer's Wimbledon Championships could be interesting.

If it brings a new audience to the sport, especially a younger audience, then exhibitions such as these should be welcomed.

Of course, it is still a work in progress and there are aspects which could be improved. But the only major problem with 'night tennis'? The morning after.